The Research Center for Auditory and Vestibular Studies (RCAVS), housed in the Department of Otolaryngology at Washington University School of Medicine, is a full service centralized facility that was developed to support the scientific progress of funded research in mission areas of the NIDCD. The Core Center is composed of four individual Research Cores and an Administrative Shell which interact to fulfill the aims of the Center. The areas in which services are offered include: Functional Testing, Histology, Microscopy & Digital Imaging and Clinical & Translational Research. Although core services are primarily designed to assist member projects that constitute the Qualifying Research Base, services are also offered, as available, to non-qualifying projects in NIDCD mission areas as well as outside projects. The Adminstrative Shell is coordinated through the Center Executive Committee, composed of the Center Director and individual Research Core Directors. Ancillary personnel include a Research Administrator and Newsletter/Website Manager. The Administrative Shell provides oversight of individual Research Core activities, facilitates interactions between cores, coordinates Center-wide activities such as the bimonthly Research Seminar and journal clubs, provides budgetary guidance for the purchase of supplies and equipment, prepares re-charge requests for core services provided to non-members, produces the Center newsletter and manages the Center website. The Administrative Shell also guides development of the Specific Aims of the RCAVS which include the following: 1) To provide centralized equipment and services for investigators whose research overlaps mission areas of the NIDCD; 2) to encourage collaborative efforts, support the development of new research questions by core members and attract new researchers to mission areas of the NIDCD; and 3) to promote translational research via mechanisms designed to enhance scientific interactions and collaborations between basic and clinical scientists. The ultimate impact of this application is to facilitate progress in the development of treatments for human disorders of hearing, balance and speech and to serve as a model for a successful translational research program.